Lawrence police offering free course in hunting and firearms safety

Lawrence police are offering a free hunting safety course for anyone in Douglas County who has not completed the mandatory state-approved training.

Anyone born after July 1, 1957, must have a hunter education certificate to hunt in Kansas. The two-day course will be held on the last Saturday of April and the first Saturday of May. Students must be at least 11 years old as of May 4 to enroll. Parents and guardians of children attending the course, which is free of charge, are welcome to attend.

Students must attend both days to pass the course. On April 27 the course will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Building 21 at the Douglas County Fairgrounds. On May 4, the course will be held at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge near Lone Star Lake, and students are advised to dress outdoor activities. A lunch of hotdogs, beans and chips will be provided for $2 on the second day of the course, or students may bring their own lunch.

The Lawrence Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #2 is sponsoring the hunter education course. For more information, contact Sgt. Max Miller of the Lawrence Police Department at 785-832-7514 or send email to mmiller@lkpd.org.

To register, visit the Kansas hunter education website and sign up for Douglas County course.

Didn't say anything about firearm ownership/usage, it is about hunting safety. There is a big difference as the hunting class usually goes over all methods of hunting (bow, gun, ext) and tends to focus more on the details of hunting such as how to kill/clean an animal distance you must be from roads/homes and things of this nature. Don't remember much more than maybe an hour out of the 8 hours being on firearm safety in the course when I took it.

I took this class and don't remember anything about how to kill/clean an animal being taught. The entire class I had by the LPD was about proper care of a gun, loading, unloading, state laws, proper way of carrying a gun as well as a firing test of a rifle at clay pigeons and a written test.

When I helped teach the course, the greatest emphasis was on SAFETY, obeying the law and following your moral compass (ethics). I helped with teaching about game management and game laws, assisted on the .22 range and with the extra-curricular shotgun shoot. Gun safety was stressed, constantly, and people were sent home if they didn't take it seriously.

I attended these classes last year with my son and it was very helpful. As stated in the article, the focus is on hunter safety which, of course, includes firearm safety. They stress the importance of knowing your target, treating all firearms as loaded, pointing the gun in a safe position, etc. It was extremely helpful. Nowhere mentioned is this intended to be a primer on how to clean your animal. This is a class focused on safety, not how to dress your game.